Beware new 18-yr-old drivers

In 2011, Temescal Canyon High School student Derreck Johnson hit several rubber pylons texting while driving during a California Highway Patrol demonstration about the dangers of texting and driving at the school. A recent study shows that provisional licensing for 16- and 17-year-olds is reducing

Don Boomer

In 2011, Temescal Canyon High School student Derreck Johnson hit several rubber pylons texting while driving during a California Highway Patrol demonstration about the dangers of texting and driving at the school. A recent study shows that provisional licensing for 16- and 17-year-olds is reducing the number of crashes.

In 2011, Temescal Canyon High School student Derreck Johnson hit several rubber pylons texting while driving during a California Highway Patrol demonstration about the dangers of texting and driving at the school. A recent study shows that provisional licensing for 16- and 17-year-olds is reducing the number of crashes. (Don Boomer)

A new study suggests that young drivers who are waiting until they turn 18 to get licensed are more at risk than those driving at 16 and 17, authorities said Tuesday.

The study, released by Impact Teen Drivers, provides data that shows the state’s provisional licensing law for younger teen drivers is working at reducing the number and severity of crashes. The law restricts the number of passengers in the car and imposes a curfew.

Martha Tessmer talks to news media Tuesday about her son, Donovan, who was killed by a reckless teenage driver in 2007.

Martha Tessmer talks to news media Tuesday about her son, Donovan, who was killed by a reckless teenage driver in 2007.

Martha Tessmer talks to news media Tuesday about her son, Donovan, who was killed by a reckless teenage driver in 2007.

But many teens are deciding to wait until they are 18 to become licensed drivers, which means they no longer are subject to provisional licensing laws, even though they are still novice drivers.

“Those are by far the kids involved in these crashes,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Brian Pennings. “And the 19- and 20-year-olds are right behind them.”

The study, which uses data from 1999 to 2007, shows that as the young driver gains more experience, the risk goes down. The study was released by Impact Teen Drivers, a Sacramento-based nonprofit group created in 2007 by the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, California Teachers Association and California Casualty.

The data was presented Tuesday to 300 juniors and seniors at Grossmont High School in El Cajon during an assembly to kick off California Teen Safe Driving Week.

Keynote speaker Martha Tessmer held up a picture of her son, so students could put a face to those statistics.

Donovan Tessmer, 16, was two weeks shy of starting his senior year when he was killed in a car wreck in Madera County.

He was still a provisional driver, but his girlfriend was not and was allowed to take passengers. The five teens piled into her car upon leaving a movie theater on July 8, 2007, and headed home on a two-lane county road. The driver caved in to her passengers’ urging her to drive faster. She jerked the wheel jokingly, sending the car out of control and into a tree. Donovan and two others in the back seat — none of whom was belted in — were ejected. He was killed instantly.

“There was no other danger than the ones they brought on themselves,” the mother said Tuesday.

She urged young people to speak up, whether they are a passenger and don’t feel safe, or they are the driver being heckled by their friends.

Reckless and distracted driving remains the No. 1 killer of teens in the United States. In 2010, distracted driving was a factor that killed roughly 2,700 people between the ages of 16 and 19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Distracted driving often looks similar to a DUI, with varying speeds, weaving and an inability to take curves, said CHP Border Division Chief Jim Abele.

“Distracted driving crashes are 100 percent preventable,” Abele said.

April marks National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, when law enforcement will be conducting zero-tolerance enforcement throughout the state.

Last April, the CHP issued more than 1,000 citations in San Diego County to distracted drivers, most of whom were on their phones or texting. The ticket costs a minimum of $159 for a first offense.